I am writing on behalf of hundreds of people who have expressed confusion and disappointment over your coverage of the March In May in your respective Monday papers. I’ve addressed the letter to both papers as Google informs us that you are friends.

Firstly to the Telegraph, your consistent disregard for concepts of respect and truth empower us. “THE FERALS ARE REVOLTING” by Matthew Benns. – Are you havin’ a laugh?

This headline brought back memories of Telegraph journo Tim Blair’s article on the first marches (in march) which sliced and diced the event like one would a tomato for bruschetta. Matthew Benns story on Sunday’s event was similarly cynical towards the the March Australia community.Your imagery on the front cover, Page “04” and page “05” chose to focus on the 13 rascals who were arrested when a “small group protesters broke away from the march near Central Station.” Among the three colour pages you set aside to March Australia, the Telegraph editors found no place to honour and acknowledge the 14,987 people who walked peacefully (apart from an image the size of a $1 scratchy in the bottom third).

I’m not sure whom I feel more empathy towards? The young men and woman you chose to dehumanise on your front cover or journalist Matthew Benns and the employees at the Daily Telegraph. I couldn’t imagine the pain of having to wrench myself out of bed everyday to go and work in an environment that thrives on cynicism and has vested interests in scooting from the truth. To the Sydney Morning Herald – on Monday your newspaper disappointed the Australian community for a third time. It was encouraging to read that you had sent two journalists down to 2nd round of March Australia events after you’d chosen not to print a word on the first march. Once again though, your pages did not honour those who marched with a simple mantra: “We want a better government.”

Months ago you were sent Letter #2 which said I believed the march was “in fact a beautiful initiative to support a government,” as we are peacefully highlighting the changes we want – giving our democracy a voice. Exercising our “Supreme Power.”

From what I’ve come to learn – March Australia is a movement that ALL Australians can feel part of. 15,000 people in Sydney decided to give up their Sunday to tell the government why they are not happy and they did so in peace. You can understand our dismay when our “grab-bag” of issues were once again undermined by the Sydney Morning Herald:

“There wasn’t much but anti-Abbott sentiment to unite those gathered at Sydney’s Belmore Park waving signs in support of everything from ABC funding and asylum seekers to artists and sharks.” Sydney Morning Herald, why didn’t you encourage your young writers to dig a little deeper?

Political reporter Jacqueline Maley acknowledged the use of ‘sense and civilility’ in a letter we sent through to the Sydney Morning Herald on March 18th. Your team knew we were supporters of the March Australia community and we expressed clear disappointment in not having our side of the story heard. On Monday your paper did it’s best to sidestep our voice for a third time. Why? We could have put you in touch with any number of intelligent and civil people. Instead you gave the biggest feature of your article to a chance passer-by named Edna Dashwood who was out on an “afternoon stroll” with her two children. You quoted Edna as saying:

“We’ll march if they start talking about anything we feel passionate about. I am more concerned with changes that affect workers rather than those to do with welfare” said Ms Dashwood.

Dear Edna… If only she knew. Your two young reporters could have filled her in right then and there. As the SMH article said later, Australian’s marched to call for protection of Arts funding, the ABC, Sharks and greater care of Asylum Seekers. Imagine if Edna had known that thousands marched for Tasmanian forests, the Great Barrier Reef, protection of our drinking water from Coal Seam Gas mining and for equal marriage rights for the LGBT community. Imagine if Edna’s children had understood that a sea of faces were there to call upon the government to relieve us of our greatest national shame of having not yet recognised the true history of this land, and to give us the chance to amend the fact that; no matter what Andrew Bolt says – Australia is one of the only remaining countries in the world NOT to recognise it’s first peoples in its’ Constitution.

The difference between the March in March and Sundays 2nd installment was that 14,987 people came with a lot more clarity and intelligence. People left their Phallus placards at home and “F*** Tony Abbott” shirts in the wardrobe. We mustered fresh new friends and family across Sydney, Adelaide and Perth who found confidence to march after the Abbott government broke its’ pinky-promises in last weeks budget.
We see powerful hope in this idea. We’ve proved it: Australian’s are willing to put all differences aside and unite under the banner of TRUTH. Thankfully the power to discover credible and unbiased news (truth) is now firmly in the palms of our hands and the mainstream media’s future is at the mercy of our fingertips. We no longer depend on media outlets to get to the heart of what’s really going on – we are living in a new age where digital people power is uniting and setting us free. The proof is in the pudding 🙂

To the Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald – it’s simple – we want more compassion from the government and we want our future back. All Australians want to have confidence that the ‘future Australia’ we are promised and vote for is the landscape we experience.

We look forward to joining you on the streets in August.

– Love Your Mother

If you would like to read our letters re March In March coverage head here:

PS: Below is a series of testimonials from an independent March Australia instagram account – For full comments head to @marchaustralia or view them here:
1. http://instagram.com/p/oJ_nLiMk5t
2. http://instagram.com/p/oK1aZHsk_Z

projectofevolutionThe Ferals???….. I was at the march yesterday & saw nothing but passionate Australians uniting for each other & the future. There was laughter, jokes, chatting & chants amongst the marchers but the scene printed on that page is not even representative of what the vibe was like. Once again an inaccurate portrayal by the media desperate to portray the battlers as antisocial… So far from the truth.

bradmullins_hairI was there yesterday with friends . I was proud to be part of a such a peaceful march . It was a great cross section of young , old , creative , intelligent , passionate people . If the people there were considered ferals than I’m happy to be one. @marchaustralia
lautrichienneI took part at #marchaustralia in Melbourne on Sunday, and did not notice any disturbance or violence. The entire rally and march was so extremely well behaved, ironically I was rather worried that the march would be ridiculed as a Sunday stroll of middle class families not leaving a lasting impression (meaning that the anger and frustration over the cuts would not be communicated as powerful as it should) on media and onlookers. Although later the Federation Square was immensely crowded and speeches were emotionalising, people maintained a very civilised attitude. The interesting thing about the@dailytelegraph‘s attempts at manipulation is that 20 years ago it could have worked. Yesterday there were just too many people taking pictures and filming the whole entirely peaceful rally.

dougie_schofieldThe people I encountered were all incredibly nice, good hearted, well behaved people. I found the spirit and energy of the speeches to one of frustration and passion (understandably), and the march was happy, respectful and peaceful. As for the purpose, due to our current government, we have purpose to march every single day.

samma_j Sydney march there were people of all ages, I was especially surprised at the amount of older Australians but so proud to see them participating and sticking up for their rights! It was a peaceful environment full of passion! I took plenty of videos, particularly to show the positive nature, heaps of families, people having picnics, instruments, music and dancing because I knew the tele would find a way to spin it. Yesterday really showed the diverse range of citizens upset at the government. Best bit was all the cars driving past beeping and tapping their roof in support and recording it on their phones.

staceylove444I was at the Sydney march yesterday (and the one in March) and was filled with gratitude, I even shed a tear or two… People from all walks of life coming together to stand up for what’s right. I had my 8 month old baby with me and we saw nothing but love, compassion & kindness. Couldn’t have been prouder to be a part of something so important.

johnnoboy65It was a wonderful human affair – all walks of life represented. Shame on any media that presented it as otherwise.

G’day there! On Tuesday March 18, 2014 – an intertwined network of social media users hailing from Sydney, Byron Bay, Canberra and beyond supported a letter I wrote to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.

This blog platform was created to post the letter so others could read thoughts on how SMH overlooked printing a story on a grassroots nationwide event – The March In March. In a matter of hours the letter became a viral piece of content that spread to different parts of the world. 5 days later the letter had been viewed 100,000 times. Keep in mind this was not a gangam style video clip or Charlie bit my finger from Youtube. This was a letter to a newspaper. In my mind, such letters get scrumpled into mini basketballs and aimed at the nearest recycling bin.

We got lucky. The paper neglected to report on an event it later said it should have. Encouraged by a friend, I stayed up late one night to write, pounced on an opportunity and got the timing just right…. But it’s important to acknowledge that the success of the campaign wasn’t all based on good timing. From the moment the Editors signed off and the paper went to print without reporting on a significant event, the success came from the work of people using content and social media. It was an example of Digital Platforms creating Social conversation, a growing phenomenom.
Through clicktivism, online banter and dinner table conversations the letter was given a voice. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter & Instagram played a big role – but it was the decision of people to use platforms for a cause that blossomed the outcome. It was social media being used for a social cause – not to build a personal brand.

Having posted the letter on a Monday, By Friday afternoon – respected journalist Jacqueline Maley responded on the SMH website. This story was printed in Saturday’s newspaper. On Monday night ABC television show Media Watch featured the letter and recognised the 90,000 people who had participated in the campaign. For two weeks I was in constant communication with people in a digital sense. Hundreds of folk across Australia were engaged with what had happened – feeling connected to the idea that we had unlocked a small door to claim a community victory.

The limitless potential of social networking is almost too hard to fathom. We’ve been thrown a lifeline by the digi-gods.2.4 Billion people currently have access to the internet and are intertwined in some way. It’s good fun to imagine what the likes of Gandhi and the rest would be thinking if they were around today with tools to communicate with billions with a simple… click.

A Global Piece of Content. 103,500 views across 141 countries.Picture Gandhi being shown the graphics below in the 1940s, knowing full well he had all modern day digital tools and platforms at his disposal – for free. There is no doubt these tools would have played a major role in his communications strategy in addition to his books, public speeches and so on.

Analytics of the Sydney Morning Herald LetterPlatform: WordPress

This following story is a visual re-telling of how the letter went viral over a couple of days through clicks and conversations reaching these 141 countries.

If you have a spare 15 minutes – read on. Featuring a guest tweet from Russel Brand and an appearance on Media Watch.

"Once upon a time there was an event in Australia called the March In March. It occurred nationwide on Sunday, March 16. 20,000 people marched in Sydney, and another 80,000 across Australia that day to voice their dissatisfaction with the Tony Abbott government over certain policies..."

Friday March 14Call To Arms – Value in the mission of March In MarchPlatform: Facebook

Sunday March 16BACKYARD CRAFTS, MUSIC + A FISH & A MERMAID FROM THE GB REEF Platform: Instagram

Monday, March 17THE SEEDPlatform: iPhone & iMessage

A trusted newspaper – the Sydney Morning Herald – did not print a word or image about the March In March. A text among friends is all it took. Instant communication, the power of ideas the beauty of teamwork and people firing eachother up!

On Monday night we finished the letter to SMH. This blog was created. The letter came from the heart and resonated with the people we showed. I posted it on Facebook to share with my friends hoping those that attended might read and support it…Read Letter #1 HERE.*38 Shares, 99 Likes, 20 Comments

Tuesday, March 18Twitter Account ActivatedPlatform: Twitter

I’d never created a Twitter account. I knew it would open up avenues of digital conversation. The Tweets below got the ball rolling. Scott Ludlum Favourited this tweet 🙂

Wednesday, March 19Read by 25,000 PEOPLE in 24 HOURS. Platform: Facebook, TwitterIn the space of 24 hours my Facebook network pushed the letter out to their Facebook networks. I was sitting at the Leichardt library the on Wednesday morning when my old uni pal Mick gave me a buzz to see how I was travelling. He said “Mate it’s been shared 4,000 times on Facebook!”

At this point I realised the letter was a solid piece of content. I formed a strategy – to connect with as many people as possible and create channels to send the letter to friends and family in order to give it the best chance at life I could 🙂*13 Shares, 91 Likes, 10 Comments

I wanted to engage the Sydney Morning Herald early in the week. I wanted them to be clear that this was not an “Anti-Abbott” letter, like the March In March event had been labelled. This was a peaceful campaign. The letter simply asked for recognition for a solid community effort and a major newspaper to reconsider the idea of what it considered to be newsworthy.

Wednesday, 2.30pmReflections
Before the March took place i remember reading a quote by Tony Abbott where he said St Pats day was the only March taking place on the 16th. It made me question if Mr Abbott’s team had read the events mission statement:

"A peaceful, non-partisan citizens’ march and rally at Federal Parliament to protest against the current government’s policy decisions that are against the common good of our nation. This signifies the people’s vote of no confidence in policies of the government that go against common principles of humanity, decency, fairness social justice and equity, democratic governance, responsible global citizenship and conserving our natural heritage."

Abbott’s words lacked compassion, intelligence and could be described as cynical.
Reading the mission statement for this event was inspiring for me. On reflection I can only describe my attendance at the march as an act of support for the government. I was a citizen peacefully voicing concern for policies effecting human equality and the environment.

Wednesday, 3pmTweeting Our Prime Minister
The grapevine informed me that Twitter was a powerful platform for creating conversation. I endeavoured to strike up a chat with the Prime Minister with my new account.I tweeted PM Abbott a link to the blog highlighting that 75,000 + had viewed it – and that perhaps his dismissal – like the SMH’s – should be reconsidered.

I had never considered creating a blog. For years I've been hearing of their value - however I never quite understood. It took a couple of minutes to create the blog, named it - themed it and post the letter. The first post received over 300 comments in a couple of days. My eyes were suddenly opened to a new platform. WordPress.

I’d been speaking with my buddies before the March In March about the role that high profile guys like Russell Brand can play in social change. I thought I’d try my luck striking up a yarn – knowing full well his passion for people sticking it to the man. Brand retweeted the letter to his 7.6 Million Followers.

The real success story was that the tweet received 58 retweets and favourited 50 times by community members in Australia. The digital conversation was growing (hopefully the real world chat too).

The more people who contacted me during the campaign, the more I saw the idea of valuing “1 more person.” Imagine if 1 extra person felt some kind of connection to the letter and it inspired them to use their voice (online or offline) to do something.
That idea was the nourishment that I held on to. On a personal level, by this point I had become heavily engaged in the campaign, not sleeping, writing, contemplating, reaching out to anyone.

11amTEXTS FROM MATES
A morning text message from an old Canberra Uni mate was a pleasant surprise.Platform: iPhone & iMessage

Thursday, 5.45pm
Email from SMH Editor-in-Chief Platform: GMAIL

Patience is a viture but I was hoping to receive a response fast to keep the story ticking. In hindsight I appreciate Darren Goodsir had a lot on his plate as Editor - and our community campaign was not something they could have planned for.

*Dozens of friends use their twitter to message these people. This was a strong show of support. Whether Tony Jones read their tweet isn’t the point. We gave ourselves a chance by using the tools we had.

Thursday, 7pmEmail from SMH Editor-in-ChiefPlatform: Gmail
Thursday, 8pmViews kept rising. The letter had been seen 84,999 more times than originally intended.
That was a celebration IMOPlatform: Facebook

*86 Shares, 103 Likes, 10 Comments

Thursday, 10pm till SunriseGetting Close to the Weekend.Platform: Facebook

In a weary state I was surprised by the email from the SMH above. At the time I felt we had warranted a swift reply. Little did we know a response was on the way. I did a final push late on Thursday to keep the story circulating. If we could reach one more set of eyes – it was worth all of the effort.

Friday, 9am
I felt we deserved a response sooner so I voiced the opinion.Platform: Gmail

4 days of online efforts meant we were going to get our story printed!

Friday, 3pmFacebook AnnouncementPlatform: Facebook & Twitter

Our story was international 90,000 times in countries such as Vietnam, France, China, Saudi Arabia & China and an official printed article was on the way.

Seconds later… My pal Sless shared the story on Facebook. He must have stumbled upon the SMH Homepage. It was a spin out to see personal reference – a small victory.
Read it here: http://bit.ly/1h3OSaG

Friday, 4pmSydney Morning Herald posted the story on their Facebook.Platform: Facebook

Friday, 5.30pmSupport from our Facebook MobI asked people to share their thoughts on the article. Read my FB post here.

From FB Post - "In regards to the piece published today by Jacqueline Maley on the SMH website there has been plenty of love and high fives flowing through cyberspace as it was a recognition of 5 days of teamwork. There has however been mixed opinions on the content, purpose and depth of the article. Please have a read and comment any thoughts you might have. Let's start a conversation. Don't be afraid to use your voice #MarchInMarch"

*30 Shares, 49 Likes, 10 Comments

Friday EveningSMH Team Tweet the article – Q & A Join in the discussion.Platform: Twitter

Critical Thinking: Twitter is a powerful news source for many people. In Australia it has been slow to take off - we don't quite grasp it's power, however it is a powerful tool when used to its full effect.

Saturday, March 22
9am – I went to the Annandale Shops in my PJs to buy the Paper.

I rolled out of bed after my first proper sleep in a week. I raced up to the newsagent. I was shocked when asked for $3.20 (papers really are struggling). The Saturday SMH was thicker than I remembered. The response made it with full colour. It was a tangible result of the campaign efforts.

11amWe were listed first on Google for “March In March.”Platform: Google

Saturday, 12pmI posted on FB asking the community to voice opinions on the articlePlatform: Facebook

I wanted to encourage my personal Facebook community to voice their opinions in a digital setting. To train our brains not to be afraid of being wrong – or cut down for expressing ideas – especially if they are filled with positive intentions. Read post here.

*34 Shares, 90 Likes, 40 Comments

I gathered comments from friends and family from all walks of life re Maley’s article. There we hundreds – from strangers, old friends, new friends, family etc. It was empowering to see the energy each person piled into their peaceful and thoughtful responses.
Sunday, March 23Platform: Notebook, Pencil & Instagram

7.15am
On Saturday night I stayed up reading more community responses and started penning another response to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The main criticism of the article was clear – once again the paper did not recognise people who had marched in march reasons of positive change. Maley’s response was thoughtful, respectful and we were fortunate to have one at all – but IMO it wasn’t good enough. 100,000 people marched the streets for many reasons. These many issues were described by the paper as “grab-bag issues.” I saw real danger in this sentiment. In my mind – Newspapers like the SMH are the benchmark for upholding thoughtful use of language – and although it was an innocent remark, the truth is – it was cynicial.
IMO the state of our environment should never be slapped with a “Grab-bag issue” tag – nor should the safety of Asylum Seekers or the equality of minority groups.

Monday 9.15pmMedia Watch recognises our efforts!
Media Watch is a brilliant show. It is truth. Our community was recognised. It was a moment to celebrate our work being honoured on keystone Australian television show.

Read our community response to Maley’s article can be read HERE 🙂
Watch the full story HERE.

Tuesday, March 26
9amRe-written Letter #2 Sent to Friends & Family
#teamwork #community

On Tuesday I had completed the 2nd letter – Attempt 2. I sent it of to a group of my closest kindest friends to get feedback. I ended up cutting the letter in half again. I was completely proud – and greatful that a dozen people were willing to give their time on a work day to spent reading, punctuating and suggesting changes. We had penned an absolute gem.

3pmIntroducing Snapchat
Platform: Snapchat iPhone App

On Tuesday Afternoon I hopped in my car to meet a friend for coffee. It dawned on me that I hadn’t listened to music for 4 days. I put on a mix CD and a song by Perth band Pond came on as I drove over the Anzac Bridge. The energy hit me like an electric shock – I felt like I was a young kid from 1981 who had never seen live music and accidentally stumbled into an ACDC concert. Listen HERE

It just so happened I was driving past Pyrmont (Sydney Morning Herald Offices) and I had Snapchat in my hands with Pond blasting. (see screenshot below of my Snapchat video).

Jacqueline Maley’s article became a viral piece of content in its own right.
It generated hundreds of comments on the the SMH website, shared 4,800 times on Facebook and tweeted 625 times. This story would never have been written if it had not been for digital people power.

(Screen grab from SMH Website)

Wednesday March 26Letter #2 Launch Day

The big day had arrived. I had hoped to construct a response that represented all 100,000 of our digital people as best i could. A post by my friend Gino was all I needed to upload the words for blog post #2.

7pmLetter #2 – the response to the Sydney Morning Herald article was shared
Read it HERE

At this point in time – I understood that my personal Facebook network had supported the campaign for 7 days. Digital People Power was still fighting on – but we needed support to come from other places to re-ignite us. For 7 days I had been talking with the March In March organisers behind the scenes. This campaign presented incredible PR content for them. The success was their chance to leverage and reach a MUCH wider audience. To show a human side to the March not based upon hate to Tony Abbott.

The March In March Facebook page already had 100,000 likes. Very solid!
To show you the potential of what could have been – from my personal 1000 friends we had reached 100,000 people around the world. Imagine then if we had started with a base of 100,000 people. Probability, social media mathematic algorithms and common sense would tell you this story would have hit 1,000,000 sets of eyes.

The March organisers decided to ignore our community campaign as they questioned my intentions. For lack of a better description, they thought I was a conspiracy theory.Not one of the March’s Facebook pages Shared the Letter. Melbourne’s page had 50,000 Likes. Sydney: 20,000 and so on. Just like the mainstream media had ignored the march, the admins on the Facebook pages ignored the letter. I take responsibility for this. My writing on social media at the time came across like was the pioneer.

*14 Shares, 55 Likes, 11 Comments

Thursday, March 27PUSHING FOR OUR LEUNIG MOMENT

I had full faith if the March In March picked up the story and deployed the Social Media strategy i had sent them – that we would have seen a 2nd story in the Sydney Morning Herald. The digi-gods had been on our side up until this point. I posted Leunig content on Instagram and Facebook over the next 2 days to engage in a new way.

Saturday March 29Community Conversation & Support

Here is just a sliver of the huge amount of support from the 2 weeks 🙂

Monday March 31, 2014The End of March.

After 2 weeks of sharing this story It was time to look ahead. We had pushed this 2nd letter to 3000 people. There was nothing left to say. We had done an incredible thing.

Despite by best effort to build the trust of the March In March organisers, I wasn’t able to do so. I believe the 2nd letter had even greater potential to put pressure on Sydney Morning Herald’s somewhat cynical attiude towards the March movement. It wasn’t to be.

Nevertheless, at a guess – I would say there would have been 300,000 unique online interactions across all platforms – that’s not counting real world conversation.

8pm – FINAL FACEBOOK POSTNamaste. (Raised in Byron Bay).

The Analytics of a Global Piece of Content. 103,500 views across 141 countries.

People Power & Why Digital Communities Are Our Gateway To Freedom – SUMMARY

Critical Thinking: Scott Ludlum's speech was an incredible example of digital content. It spoke truth and was perfectly executed to be shared on digital platforms. Many have said this video was the main factor in him winning a Senate seat in the April WA election.
Platform: YouTube

Today my friends and I were flicking through your pages with a regular Monday morning happiness. As per Monday during footy season, we are fairly certain we navigated patiently through a double page spread describing an enthralling Dragons Vs Cowboys match in Wollongong with a quoted 8,345 attendees, but we may be confused with any week from the upcoming 26. Normally it’s quite tedious to scroll through the sports wrap, but we were happy to do so this morning as we reveled in the excitement of turning the pages and that beautiful moment when we would finally land in your heart to read about the mighty March In March. We searched and searched, turned and turned. We soon realized that there was NO mention of the march. Maybe we’d missed it? Was there a feature article insert that may have fallen out? It was a nationwide march, surely there was something? A political movement created by the people for the people that attracted more than 100,000 + attendees nationwide over 2 days with another massive day still to come in Canberra. This was not a poor mans competition to the annual St Patricks Day carnival parade as Tony Abbott more or less described it (St Pat’s we noted had some coverage on page 5) – this was a big moment for Sydney & Australia. March In March meant a lot of things to a lot of people, so much that #marchinmarch was trending nationally on social for more than 2 days – a movement of national consciousness created by an army of people, mums, dads, students, kids, ratbags and scallywags, socialists, greens, normals, hipsters, awakened corporates, teachers, community elders, Irishmen, tweeters, instagrammers, facebookers, hashtagees and hashtaggers. We figure your news team would search social media TRENDS fornew content ideas? You must have noticed the fuss? We dressed up, spoke about truths, communicated compassion and frustrations. We sang with Billy Bragg and shared stories of why we want changes in Abbott government policy. It was more than the talk of the town. It was the talk across the pubs, clubs, dinner tables, beaches, parks, Saturday morning kids cricket carnivals and garage sales Australia wide.

Read the Full story of this Letter and it's journey to 100,000 views HERE.

We understand that it is footy season so your pages are already well and truly reserved for the “Tahs” who no doubt appreciated your usual 2 page critique of their backline ball movement and scrummaging, and the mighty swans whose accuracy in front of the goals is always worth a solid 500 words, especially after a shock loss to the Giants! – and in future circumstances, we would never want to be the ones responsible for you having to have “the talk” with Fitzy. Leave that man be. Don’t get us wrong, we understand all of your commitments to space. Likewise we noted your extensive coverage of the Tasmanian & South Australian state elections which pointed out the daunting amount of work Labor has ahead of it if they are to challenge Abbott at the next election – but was there really no room for the March In March? At all? Nothing? Not even a dribble in the socials pages? Actually there was some disguised mention of Billy Brag performing in Central – but you needed a diploma in braille to uncover the code: Billy, a hugely famous political activist with decades of history was performing in Belmore Park, Sydney – on a Sunday afternoon for the March In March. Is it that you guys are hard markers, or is that your paper is going through a crisis due to the decline in readership as the internet and quality online news content platforms look to eat you alive, that you couldn’t afford to send a reporter out on a Sunday pay rate? If that’s the case – our condolences. It’s a sigh of relief to know that the Internet is creating transparency for the people of Sydney and Australia, and you will no doubt come to adjust to the changing world where people want a rounded display of content filled with substance and truth on a Monday morning. Maybe your team were on the bandwagon of cynicism like so many others, adding further to the plight of progress. Billy Bragg spoke of our greatest enemy being not the capitalist world we so often complain about, but the cynical world. A world where hope is cut down at the knees. It’s not hard to see where the cynicism develops when a world class newspaper such as the SMH fails to report on a movement of the people. Your silence astounds us, similar to the way Adam Goodes was astounded in a recent piece in the SMH when describing white Australia’s attitudes towards Indigenous Australian history. Why are we silent to the truth?

If you could do us one favour, please ask your chief what sort of information you are looking to cover in 2014, because it seems we need pointers. A couple of tips for you, your team and any aspiring writer for that matter looking to cut through in this age of constant content; write articles that people want to read and report on what matters to the people of Sydney. The SMH do this better than most, more often that not. But on March 16 and 17 – we say not. Not only was this day important for the folk who marched, it was the faces and reactions of the observers and the greater community that was a spectacle and the real story of the day. Thousands paused their Sunday shopping, tinder dates, jogs, TAB bets & ‘Sundey Arvo Beers’ to watch the 20,000 plus crowd – these people suddenly realised that they might have been “missing the boat” on Abbott’s policies of late. Their eyes were transfixed on EVERY sign. It was beautiful to watch onlookers de-code the signs – and suddenly feel connected to the issues and to consider the power that humans can have on each other. Suddenly a compassionate, considerate and conscious world seemed so much more important to every individual. We the marchers educated them, leaving them to go home with new knowledge, sense of self-empowerment, a new interest in Australian government activity, and most importantly hope.

Read the Full story of this Letter and it's journey to 100,000 views HERE.

SMH, we write with the best of intention. We seek truth. Yesterday was a big day and you blatantly ignored it. Even the ABC gave us some airtime despite obvious pressures on them. Without trying to sound like bitterly disappointed children, we wish you all the best in your slow descent to the thin air of online content and the minds and memories of paper loving Sydney journeymen such as ourselves. We have sincerely appreciated our relationship with you over the last 20 years – the unforgettable experience of being able to walk out to the front door step of our Grandma’s house, unwrap you, feel your soft smooth texture and that fresh smell of ink of a morning. You offer so much. You’ve taught us a healthy portion of the things we know about the world, arts, culture, politics, sport, crosswords and life. Your pages will never be forgotten by us, but we’re putting you in the sin bin for a little while. Like Abbott, if you work with us, the people, we will work with you. We are all in this together. We want everyone on the field at all times working together, as after all we are all one. We’re sure that you don’t need Nostradamus to point out the way the new generation are already consuming media with online content certainly being the way forward – and we noted your inclusion of Jacqueline Maley’s little piece – so your URL has been added to our favourites, but if you are going to go to the efforts of printing to the streets, at least pay attention to the real news. We needed you yesterday. More than anything it would have been a great symbol of respect – honouring the hard work done by thousands of people whose hands and feet moved purely with the intention to compassionately care for their treasured country.